Arkansas Literary Festival

The Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock was, for the most part, awesome. I loved my first panel (although I wished it took place an hour later) at the Central Library. The moderator brought up an excellent question about language. Part I of Bird of Paradise… is peppered here and there with Dominican Spanish. If you read the sentences carefully you’ll find clues to their definitions within but I chose not to translate them outright because I want the readers to feel as uncomfortable as I imagine Rocío and Eduardo must have been as spanking new immigrants to New York City in the 1970s. I want the readers to walk in their shoes, even if for just a few moments. The best thing about these talks for me is hearing fresh perspectives from folks who’ve read the book and those curious about the narrative. I missed seeing a new friend’s book reading and my other homegirl Rebecca Walker, who was in town giving a talk at a local high school because I had to jet back to the airport.

I fell asleep the moment I slipped onto my seat on the plane and awoke a couple hours later in Chicago, deliriously tired, only to be happily surprised by none other than Rebecca Walker grabbing her carry-on out of the luggage compartment right in front of me. It was a serendipitous moment, indeed. We took a self-y, proof below, when we went our separate ways to catch our respective connecting flights.

Follow Me!

Some Girls

Bird of Paradise

“Drawing on the science of DNA testing and her own sense and experience of mysticism, Cepeda, an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker, offers a “synthesis between logos and mythos” in a thoroughly engaging look at race from a Latina’s perspective on what is touted as a postracial society.” — Booklist, starred review